It seems the problems vexing the Consumer Protection Financial Bureau (CPFB) just keep piling up. We've reported previously on their uncomfortable sessions with a certain Senator, who is known for holding bureaucratic feet to the fire while providing some of the most entertaining sound bites of the news cycle. We also brought you the news of a discrimination lawsuit, in which the CPFB settled with the plaintiffs to the tune of $6 million.

Previously on RedState:  It's Bigger Than the FDIC: Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Beset With Discrimination Charges

Senator Kennedy Grills CFPB Director Over Woke Banking Rule

Now, some new details of that settlement have been made public.

U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell, in Washington, D.C., approved the settlement terms on Jan. 18. They include $1.5 million for attorneys at Stowell & Friedman, plus Justin Leinenweber. 

The CFPB admitted no wrongdoing and recently updated its pay structures, notes a blog post by Elliot Johnson of Ballard Spahr.

"We view as ironic that the CFPB, which has been vigorously, and sometimes zealously enforcing fair lending laws, would be sued for employee discrimination and pay out $6 million in damages and $1.5 million in attorneys fees," it says.

"The optics are not very pleasant."

Take a look at that last sentence; if that's not the understatement of the month, it will do until a better one comes along. 

Also: Of course, the CFPB admitted no wrongdoing. They would have done so regardless of whether there actually was any wrongdoing or not. Of course, it's not terribly unusual for a corporation or a government agency to settle up just to make a troublesome lawsuit go away; it's also not that uncommon for government agencies, whose employees seem to fancy themselves immune from consequences, to engage in shameful behavior.

See Related: FDIC Employees Busted for Wild Parties, Sexual Harassment

Just as a reminder, these government agencies are tasked with protecting the taxpayers. 

Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?

The Southwest Public Policy Institute issued a press release condemning the CFPB's practices and mentioning the agency's recent data breach that gave up information on 250,000 consumers.

"I have to ask: on what basis should consumers be placing their trust in the CFPB to look after their interests?" said SPPI president Patrick Brenner.

"“If these are supposed to be our ‘watchdogs,’ then who is watching the watchdogs? All we have seen from the CFPB since their inception is hypocrisy, ineptitude, and, frankly, corruption. The CFPB is so broken down to its very foundation that we shouldn’t be talking about reforming it: it’s time to talk about doing away with it all together.”

Again, take a look at the last sentence. We got along without a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau from the founding of the republic until the presidency of Barack Obama. We can get along without it again. There is no constitutional justification for its existence, as is the case with a host of federal alphabet agencies. What's more, it is in large part the brainchild of Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), whose fiscal and economic ignorance is so profound, so all-encompassing, so astounding that it beggars description. (Even though I just described it.)

Add the CFPB to a long list of federal agencies that are:

• Not in the Constitution as an enumerated power of any branch of the federal government.
• Therefore prohibited to the federal government by the 10th Amendment.
• Wasting taxpayers' dollars.
• Should be defunded and disbanded forthwith.

But, as we all know, nothing of the sort will happen, and this cavalcade of malfeasance and waste of the taxpayer's money will continue.